Title: Wine and roses Part One Leo rubbed the back of his neck, stretching muscles which ached from the late hour and the lack of movement. Glancing at his watch he sighed. Another hour and it wouldn’t be worth going home. He’d call up and ask the staff to prepare a room for him in the Residence. He had given up sleeping on the couch in his office after he had spent a night on it a few months back and been unable to walk properly for days. Jed had offered to get him a couch which made up into a proper bed, but Leo refused. He didn’t want to have yet another reason to spend his whole life in the West Wing. Although, in reality, he pretty much did. ************* He heard voices in the corridor. Agents whose voices he didn’t recognise. And Margaret. At midnight. He got up and walked into the corridor. Margaret was walking away, and he could hear her soft voice. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know where else…’ ‘Margaret?’ His assistant turned at the sound of Leo’s voice. Leo stared at her. At her face. ‘Margaret, what the Hell..?’ Abbey rounded the corner, saw Leo, and said firmly: ‘Margaret, come with me. Leo, go back to your office.’ On any other day, in any other situation, Leo would have followed Abbey’s sharp instruction. She was one of the few people on earth Leo was scared of. Abbey in full ‘angry’ mode was not a pleasant sight. But this was different. ‘No, not until someone tells me what happened.’ Margaret began to cry, and Abbey put an arm around the woman’s trembling shoulders. Margaret tried to smile. ‘It’s nothing Leo. Please.’ As she spoke, her legs gave way, and only the swift reactions of the Agents around her prevented her from dropping to the floor. One of them picked her up and looked at Abbey. She shook her head, sighed, then nodded towards the doorway in which Leo was standing. ‘Let’s get her in the Oval Office.’ *********** ‘Hey there.’ Margaret opened her eyes and saw Leo’s concerned face. ‘What happened? I was…’ ‘You passed out. You’re okay now.’ Unable to stop herself, Margaret began to cry again. ‘I’m sorry…’ ‘Hey, shhh. It’s okay. What happened?’ ‘He…he…hit…me.’ ‘Who? Who did this to you?’ *************** Leo pulled up outside the elegant townhouse. The lights were still on, and Leo could see movement in one of the upstairs windows. He banged on the door until a middle-aged woman opened the door. ‘Good evening…’ Leo barged past her and stood in the hallway. ‘Where is he?’ ‘The Senator is…’ Leo looked up as the man came down the stairs. ‘Leo…’ As the Senator extended his hand, Leo hit him. The man stumbled backwards, falling against the staircase. Leo looked down at him. His voice was hard, the threat simple: ‘You ever come near Margaret again, I’ll kill you.’ *************** ‘Leo, got a minute?’ Leo was suddenly wary. Jed did not look pleased to see him. ‘Sir?’ ‘Siddown.’ ‘Sir, if this is about…’ ‘You assaulting a Senator? Yeah, Leo, it is.’ ‘Sir, he…’ Uncomfortable ticking off his long-time friend, Jed said crossly: ‘Leo, you hit him!’ ‘He hit Margaret!’ ‘Yeah, Leo. And Abbey should have called the police. But instead, you went round his house in the middle of the night and you hit him.’ Equally cross at being hauled into the Oval and being yelled at like a kid who broke a window, Leo snapped: ‘Yeah. And you know what? I’d do it again.’ Bartlet sighed. ‘He’s made a complaint. He doesn’t want the police involved any more than you do, for obvious reasons. Consider yourself yelled at, okay?’ Leo nodded, getting up. ‘Okay. I’m gonna go check on Margaret.’ Bartlet sat back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. ‘Leo, you’re not her protector, you know? She’s a big girl.’ Leo looked at Jed. ‘Yeah, I know.’ ************** ‘Margaret’s out sick today. I’m gonna need someone.’ Leo was sitting on the edge of his desk, the senior staff standing in a semi-circle around him. He looked around, wanting an offer of help. ‘I’ve got a light day. You can share Donna.’ Leo looked up. ‘Thanks Josh.’ CJ frowned. ‘She was okay last night. She had a date. Maybe she got sick from the food.’ Not wanting to discuss Margaret’s health, Leo said sharply: ‘Okay that’s it.’ The senior staff looked at each other. Leo was in a bad mood. And it was only seven am. There were a lot of hours to go in which the McGarry temper would only get worse. ************** ‘Hey.’ Margaret stood in her doorway, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. ‘Leo. Is everything..?’ Leo couldn’t remember ever seeing Margaret in anything other than work clothes or formal dresses. Forcing himself not to stare, he nodded. ‘I just wanted to make sure you were okay.’ ‘I’m fine. Really.’ Leo looked at Margaret’s face. The bruises were darkening, the cut on her lip re-opened by the conversation he was making her have. ‘I bought you some stuff.’ Margaret looked at the flowers and brown bag Leo was holding. She smiled, tears brightening her eyes. ‘Did you remember your meeting with…’ Leo was amazed that, even now, Margaret remembered his appointments. ‘I cancelled my afternoon. I wanted to make sure you were okay.’ ‘Thank you.’ Leo looked at the floor, suddenly uncomfortable. ‘I should go.’ He handed Margaret the flowers and the bag. Wanting to invite Leo in, Margaret saw his discomfiture and changed her mind, settling for: ‘Thank you.’ ‘No problem. You let me know when you’re ready to come back, okay. No rush.’ ‘I’ll be in tomorrow Leo.’ Leo sighed. ‘Margaret!’ ‘Tomorrow Leo. I could have come in today.’ ‘Abbey told you to rest.’ Margaret was glad of the day at home. It had been almost three am before someone had taken her home, and she was exhausted. ‘Yeah. And I am.’ Leo smiled. ‘Or you were before I disturbed you. Go back to bed, okay.’ ‘Okay. See you tomorrow.’ ‘Yeah. Bye.’ When she was alone again, Margaret unwrapped the flowers. Roses. She smiled at the words on the card, pinned to the cellophane wrapping. ‘Not all guys hit.’ A line from her favorite movie, Pretty Woman. Which she knew Leo loathed. Although, despite all the times she’d quoted various lines from it, she didn’t remember telling him that one. The thought made her frown, just for a moment. The movement hurt, and she relaxed her facial muscles immediately. ************ At Leo’s request, the senior staff and their assistants were in early the following morning. Abbey stood at his side as he looked round their uneasy faces. Something had happened, and none of them knew what it was. But whatever ‘it’ was, it was not good. Abbey took a deep breath. ‘Thanks for coming in early. I wanted you to know before she got here. Monday night Margaret went on a date. He got drunk and he hit her. Margaret came here. When she told us what happened…’ She broke off and Leo finished the sentence for her: ‘I hit him. As far as anyone outside this room’s concerned, none of this ever happened. Okay?’ CJ and Toby, who were the most likely to have to deal with any leaks if the story got out, looked horrified and nervous at the same time. The other women just imagined it could have been them. And the remainder of the senior staff were just angry that someone had hurt Margaret. Abbey looked round the shocked faces. ‘When Margaret comes in, act as normally as you can. If she wants to talk about what happened, please do. I’ll be around this morning. If you’re at all concerned, just come and get me.’ *************** Margaret slipped in almost unnoticed a few minutes later. She had hoped by getting in early to avoid many of the staff. But everyone appeared to already be at their desks. Abbey had asked if she should tell the staff what had happened. Margaret guessed she had. Hearing his assistant at her desk Leo shouted: ‘Margaret!’ As she rushed in, Leo looked at her. Aside from the small cut on her lip and a couple of fading bruises, she didn’t look as bad as he had expected. ‘Leo?’ ‘I need the file on FEC.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘You okay?’ Margaret smiled. ‘Yeah.’ For a second, she thought about saying something more. Then the moment was gone as Leo looked up irritably. ‘Margaret? FEC?.’ ‘Margaret, everything okay?’ Margaret looked up at the voice in her doorway. ‘Hello Dr Bartlet. Yeah, I’m fine thanks.’ ‘Okay.’ Abbey leaned into Leo’s office. ‘Don’t keep Margaret too late Leo, okay?’ Leo looked up from his desk. ‘Yuh.’ As he took the folder from her, Margaret saw Leo’s facial muscles tighten. ‘Did you hurt your hand?’ Leo flexed his fingers, trying not to wince at the discomfort. ‘It was worth it.’ Ignoring the rising heat in her face, Margaret said shyly: ‘Thank you Leo.’ Leo smiled, shrugging as though what he had done was an everyday thing. ‘S’okay. Anytime.’ And they both knew he meant it. 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